Volotea signs 6.1m litres SAF offtake agreement with Repsol

Spanish energy firm Repsol announced finalisation of an agreement with low-cost airline Volotea to supply 6.1m litres of sustainable aviation fuel between 2025 and 2029 ahead of the EU’s SAF mandate.

The agreement will help Volotea meet the 2% SAF requirement set by the European Union’s ReFuelEU Aviation regulation, which will come into effect at the beginning of next year.

“This alliance with Volotea reinforces our commitment to aviation in Spain. Our investments are focused on increasing the production of SAF to meet airline demand,” said Valero Marin, chief customer officer, Repsol.

The SAF, to be supplied by Repsol to Volotea, will be produced from waste such as used cooking oil and in line with standards of European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive.

Earlier in March this year, Volotea reached an agreement with Repsol to include the equivalent of 50% SAF on the route between Madrid and the Region of Murcia.

“Over the years, Volotea has launched several initiatives to reduce our environmental impact. Thanks to this ongoing commitment and the rapid progress made recently, we will be able to reduce our direct CO2 emissions per passenger-kilometre by 50% by 2025, five years ahead of our initial target,” said Carlos Muñoz, founder and CEO, Volotea.

The Spanish airline said that, prior to signing agreement with Repsol, it has been working on the integration of SAF into its fleet.

Between 2022 and 2023, it used approximately 1m litres of SAF; and since September 2022, it has had an agreement with Airbus to operate its shuttle between Hamburg and Toulouse with 34% SAF.

Repsol began production of 100% renewable fuels at its Cartagena facilities in April this year. The plant will exclusively produce 100% renewable fuels with production capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year of both SAF as well as renewable diesel.